Sealing device.



F. EVANS.

SEALING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.14.19|3.

1, 146,754.. Patented July 13, 1915.

llNi'iE STAS PATENT @QFJ.

FRED EVANS, 0F SUMMIT,'NEWJERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 PATENTED DEVICES COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ACOBIORATION OF NEW'JERSEY.

' SEALING DEVICE.

I Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 13, 1915.

Application filed April 14, 1913. Serial No. 760,962.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FnEDjEv'A s, residing at Summit, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sealing Devices, of which the'following is aspecification. k

This invention relates to a sealing device and a particular object thereof is to provide a simple, inexpensive and efficient sealing device for tags and thelike, or for sealing car doors and the like,'or for various other purposes where a quick and eflicient sealing device is desirable. i

To this, end the device comprises a piece of sheet metal cut intoappropriate form, having one end provided with an eye and I having its other end adapted to be projected through the eye and to be subsequently manipulated so as to positively prevent its retrogressive movement through the eye, the intermediate portion of the device forming a closed loop such as may extend about, two or more members desired to be sealed together. I

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shipping tag having my sealing device applied thereto and showing the method by which the same is sealed Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the sealing'device detached; Fig. 3 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 2, but illustrating a modification, Figs. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate various ways in which the sealing end of the device may be formed for improving the quality of the seal; Figs. 7 and 8 are perspective. views illustrating forms of my sealing device capable of at} tachment to shipping tags and the like without the use of tools, or withimore despatch than the structures of the other figures; Figs. 9 and 10, are fragmentary detailed sectional f views taken substantially on the planes oflinesIX IX and respec-' tively, of Figs. 1 and S; Fig."11]is.anenlarged fragmentary perspectiveview of a portion of thestructure shown in Fig. 4, illustrating the probableshape assumed in the process of using the structure; and ;Fig-. 12 is an enlarged,detailedsectional view." 1

Referring to the drawingsifor a detailed description of the structure illustrated, and particularly to the structure shownin Figs.

1, 2 and 9,: the'reference numeral 1 indicates an elongated piece of sheet metal, preferably thin and easily bent, such as thin tin or brass. This piece of metal is preferably tapered throughout its length, for a purpose presently to be referred to, and at its larger end, as 2, is formed with an aperture 3, the material surrounding the aperture 3 being further enlarged and provided with tangs 4 whereby the larger end of the member may be rigidly attached to a piece of cardboard or the like serving, for instance, as a shipping tag, the tangs & being forced through the cardboard and turned upon themselves in a well understood manner, as shown in Fig. 1. The cardboard is obviously apertured adjacent the aperture 8, and the opposite or smaller end 5, of the sealing device, is adapted to be passed through the aperture 3 after first having been engaged about an article to be sealed, for instance the article 6 of Fig. 1, and that portion. of the smaller end 5 which projects through the aperture 3 is adapted to be twisted, as shown in Fig. 1. The relative shoulder portions formed by the twists and turns of the projecting end 5 will positively prevent retrogressive movement. The aperture 3 is only sufficiently wide to easily accommodate the thickness of the metal and it will therefore be practically impossible to straighten out the twisted end 5 again so that it could be withdrawn without indicating clearly that it had been tampered with.

Owing to the taper of the piece of metal, and the relative length of the aperture 3, it will be impossible to move the end 5 through the aperture beyond a given point. In the drawings, Fig. 2, this pointis indicated at 7, the width of the piece of metal at the point 7 being equal to the length of the aperture 3. In this manner my sealing device is rendered proof against second use, that is, it is impossible, for instance, for an unauthorized person to cut oif the twisted portion in order to unseal the device, and subsequently draw througha new section to be twisted. I

:In Fig. 3 I have illustrated a structure wherein this provision against second use is morepositively emphasized. In this structure I employ a positive shoulder, as 8, that portion, as 9, of the piece of metal beyond the shoulder 8 being just wide enough to pass through the slot 3, and the main portion, as 10, of the piece of metal being much too large to pass through the slot 3.

I In Figs. 4:, 5 and 6 I l have illustrated means formed upon theisealing end whereby a more positive seal may be secured inciform positive square shoulders as shown in v the enlarged'view Fig. 11. In Fig. 5 I have shown a plurality of struck-up tongues 12.

When the metal of Fig. 5 is twisted the tongues 12. will project in a manner to form positive shoulders. These struck-up portions 12 are of a sprmg, or resillent, character, and, while they are easily inserted through the aperture 3, they positively pre vent retrogressive movement even without twisting the projected portion. In this respect they may serve as temporary connecting or sealing means, and may be employed in association with the structures of the other figures, if desired. Prior to twisting the projected portion, the tongues 12 may be easily pressed downward by thefinger, if desired,.fin order to detach the end. Obviously, if the tongues are not desired as a temporary connecting means but merelyv to provide portions which will spread apart and form shoulders when the metal is twisted, then they may. normally lie flush with surrounding surface, rather than as illustrated.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a series of heads or enlargements, as 13.: When the metal of Fig. 6 is twisted, the enlargements 13 will form positive shoulders in much the same manneras the slits 11 of Fig. 4.

In Fig. 7 I have illustrated my sealing device constructed without the tangs 4. In this modification the body portion of the device is inserted through an aperture, as 14, formed in the shipping tag or the like, or the device may be placed around any article or articles intended to be sealed, and the sealing end introduced through the aperture 3 and twisted the same as shown in Fig. 1.

In Fig. 8 I have shown my sealing device I as particularly adapted for application to shipping tags and the like. In this modification one end of the device is folded upon itself and provided with mating apertures, and is cut away, as at 15, to form a sort of groove into which an ordinary shipping tag may. be inserted, and held so as to dispose its aperture to mate the apertures of the sealing device. The sealing end of the'device may then be passed through all of the apertures and seal the whole together. This structure, as well as thestructure of Fig. 7 may obviously be applied to tags and the like without use of tools of any description, whereas the structures of the other figures are preferably attached by some type of tool particularly adapted for clenching the tangs 1. p p n In all of the structures the actual sealing operation, that is the operation of inserting the sealing end through the aperture 3 and especially apparent in connection with the structure ofFig. 4, and is also apparent Fig. ,6. In Fig. 4 the slits 11 extend inwardly from the edge of the member and materially reduce the cross-sectional area of themember at that point; In bending the structure, the bends will naturally be sharp at the points of these slits, as clearly shown in Fig. 11, and efforts to straighten out, or reverse, such sharp bends will quickly fracture the already weakened material and give positive evidence of tampering. Though it is obvious that the aperture 3may be formed .bysimply cutting away a portion of the material, it is preferable that the aperture be formed in a manner to provide a pyramidal pocket having relatively inclined walls with the aperture at their apex, as shown in the detail view, Fig. 12. These walls maybe readily formed, without special care, if anedged tool is employed to form the aperture, the tool being thrust through the sheet metal sufficiently far to form the aperture without cutting away any of the metal, the metal from the aperture being bent back to form the inclined walls. convenient means for leading or directing the sealing end of the device into the'aperture. The aperture itself may be therefore quite small without being objectionably hard to find. It is obvious thatit would be practically impossible to withdraw the sealing end, after having been once twisted, for the reason that even the slightest irregularity in the cross-sectional contour of the sealing end would form a more or less prominent shoulder or stop, which would be engaged by the out-turned edges of the aperture. a I v I i As. many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be'made without departing from the scope thereof, it is "intended thatali' The inclined walls will serve as a I matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention, which as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a shipping tag or the like, of a sealing member having a portion lapping a portion of the shipping tag, the lapping portions of said tag and sealing member being formed with mating apertures, means detachably' retaining the sealing member and shipping tag in lapping re lation, the sealing member having a portion projected through said mating apertures, and means for preventing withdrawal of said projected portion, comprising juxtaposed parts thereon normally alined to facilitate movement through said mating apertures, and said projecting portion being twisted to spread said juxtaposed parts away from each other and out of alinement, so that one of said juxtaposed parts forms a shoulder, whereby to seal the mentioned portions of the sealing member together and, at the same operation, to seal the sealing member to the shipping tag.

2. A sealing device comprising a part having an aperture formed therethrough, and a second part adapted to be projected through said aperture, the projected portion of said second part having juxtaposed parts normally alined longitudinally of said projected portion to facilitate movement of said juxtaposed parts through said aperture, and said projected portion being twisted to spread said juxtaposed parts away from each other and out of alinement so that one of said juxtaposed parts forms a shoulder to prevent retrogressive movement through said aperture.

3. A sealing device comprising a part formed with an aperture adjacent one end and having its opposite end adapted to be projected through said aperture, the projected portion of said opposite end having a slit formed transversely thereof opening through the marginal edge of said projected portion, and the juxtaposed parts at opposite sides of said slit being normally alined longitudinally of said projected portion to facilitate movement of said juxtaposed parts through said aperture, and said projected portion being twisted to spread said juxtaposed parts away from each other and out of alinement so that one of said juxtaposed parts forms a shoulder to prevent retrogressive movement through said aperture.

4. The combination with a shipping tag or the like, having an aperture formed therein, of a reinforcing member for said tag, having an aperture registering with the aperture in the tag, tangs formed upon said reinforcing member spaced from the aperture thereof serving to retain said reinforcing member and said tag in position with said apertures registering and an extension projecting from the outer edge of said reinforcing member folded to form a loop and having its outer end thrust through said mating apertures and twisted to form a shoulder to prevent retrogressive movement through said mating apertures.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

' FRED EVANS. Witnesses:

' L. GESSFORD HANCHE, NATHALIE THOMPSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). 0. 

